PRELUDE TO PANAMA l6l
expedition of Magellan in 1520 showed that the nearest
way for ships was by a long and dangerous voyage to
the South through the Straits named after him.
It was clear that the only way to obtain ready access
to the Southern Sea was by artificial means, and a book
was published as early as 1550 by Antonio Galvao, the
Portugese navigator, demonstrating that a canal could
be cut at Tehuantepec, Nicaragua, Panama or Darien.
A year later the Spanish historian Gomara presented
a memorial to Philip II, strongly urging him to under-
take such an enterprise. At first the monarch listened
favourably, and even went so far as to send out two
Flemish engineers to study the ground. But the
Spanish Government was not now concerned to find a
rapid route to Cathay; it was more anxious to safe-
guard its newly-won possessions. Councillors played
upon the king's religious scruples, and warned him
against trying to improve on the works of the Creator.
The result was that all plans for a canal were aban-
doned, and " to seek or make known any better route
than the one from Porto Bello to Panama was for-
bidden under penalty of death." The archives of
Madrid swallowed up all writings on the subject, and
Spain lost a great opportunity. A change of policy in
the late eighteenth century initiated fresh surveys at
Tehuantepec and Nicaragua, but political disturbances
at home rendered them abortive.
England took a hand in 1695 when William Paterson
obtained the sanction of William III to found New
Caledonia in Darien, and included an interoceanic
canal in his plans. But the whole undertaking ended in
disaster.